MANSFIELD, Ohio — Richland Public Health announced Tuesday that four cases of B.1.429, the COVID-19 variant first detected in California, have been found in Richland County.
The county said the four cases were detected in Mansfield and three of the four were from inmates at the Mansfield Correctional Institute. The cases were detected between Feb. 15 and Feb. 22. The ages of the individuals who tested positive for the variant are 18, 24, 28 and 64 years old. Each of those individuals has recovered from the virus.
The variant appears to be more contagious, but "there is no evidence that the variant currently detected in Ohio causes more severe illness or increased risk of death," Richland Public Health said, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This isn't the first time a COVID-19 variant has been discovered in Ohio. According to the Ohio Department of Health, the U.K. variant, B.1.1.7, has also seen some spread in Ohio.
Right now, there are four variants that have been detected in the United States, but it appears that the current COVID-19 vaccines are effective against those.
"As the numbers of these variants continue to grow, they really remind us that COVID-19 isn't giving up," said ODH Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bruce Vandherhoff, earlier this month.
RELATED: Health officials warn against spread of UK variant in Ohio
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